Saturday, February 3, 2007

Everyone has heard the news and read the headlines over the last week or so. "Scientists Agree Man is to Blame for the World's Climate Change" they have proclaimed.

Well, you may be asking yourself who are these scientists, and where (and how) are they coming to agreement about global warming? Find out for yourself, by visiting the website of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Founded by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1988, the IPCC describes its role and methodology in this way: "The Panel’s role is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the best available scientific, technical and socio- economic information on climate change from around the world. The assessments are based on information contained in peer-reviewed literature and, where appropriately documented, in industry literature and traditional practices. They draw on the work of hundreds of experts from all regions of the world."

Not all of the reports from the recent (late January and early February) meetings in Paris have been posted, but you can look at many other recent reports here, as well as find out more about the principles and procedures of this group. Most interesting is the recently loaded Summary For Policymakers, which provides a good basic overview of the IPCC's latest findings.

There is a User Guide to the IPCC Website that details how to "find information about climate change" by linking you to specific publications. However, most of this information is currently from their 2001 reports, so stay tuned for the release of their latest findings.

Anyone interested in the topic of global climate changes will find the website of this in-the-news group worth perusing.

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